The Viewfinder: Kelly Clarkson’s “Mr. Know-It-All”

Kelly Clarkson’s made such a name for herself playing the “someone done me wrong” card that it’s hard to picture her as anything but. I suppose “My Life Would Suck Without You” was a happy love song, but even that came within sort of an aggro framework. Somewhat unfortunately, “Mr. Know-It-All” comes from a similar place, only with a lot less of the personality that defined earlier hits like the now-classic “Since U Been Gone”.

I don’t know-to my ears, this song sounds a bit generic. It’s certainly a lot less fun, rocker-chick and a little more…bitter? Yeah, let’s roll with bitter. In the back of my mind, I keep thinking about Kelly’s notorious battles with her record company over material, and I feel as though “Mr.” might be a case of Kelly saying “Aw, fuck. Let me just do what they say and bide my time until my contract is up and I can do the music I really want to do.”

It doesn’t help that the video is a teensy bit on the low-budget side. For you, for me: I’m not really feelin’ this one, dawg. I wasn’t hugely into Kelly’s last album, All I Ever Wanted, either (“Already Gone” was nice…) so, I’m thinking this one may be a skip? Sorry, Kelly.

Kelly’s new album, Stronger, arrives in stores and online October 24th.